Ernakulam is to have two community skill parks under the State government’s Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) turning operational by September.
The two parks are located at Perumbavoor and Kalamassery. The facility at Perumbavoor has come up on the campus of the District Institute of Education and Training in Kuruppampady while the park at Kalamassery is located at the High-tech KINFRA park.
Officials of ASAP pointed out that work has been complete at both the parks and it could start rolling once the agreements are signed with the operating partner. A consortium based in Queensland, Australia, has evinced interest in operating the park at Kuruppampady. A leading IT company is likely to be the operating partner at the facility in Kalamassery, they said.
These parks, which aim at fostering an industry-led skill ecosystem in the State, are among the nearly 20 such units that would be set up across the State in two years. In the first phase, nine parks will be set up in select districts. These parks are expected to cater to the needs of students graduated from the ASAP programmes. They will also act as community colleges in the regions.
The parks at Kuruppampady and Kalamassery, which are spread over 25,000 sq.ft each, have space for offering training programmes in information and communication technology, precision engineering, heavy machinery and activity-based training. Training programmes in areas like construction, robotics, healthcare and retail will be offered by the parks.
A sum of ₹20 crore will be utilised for setting up each park. When operating on full-capacity basis, the parks will be hubs of multi-skill development and eventually also carry out functions of a community college that caters to lifelong learning and skill development. Each park can at a time host 2,000 trainees. The park will also work as consultancy centres for industries, industry associations, and local governments.
